Harry James
Biography: Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus. At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned yo play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable, his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City. It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: March 15, 1916
Deathday: July 05, 1983
Popularity:
Known For
The Ladies Man
1961-06-21
The Ladies Man
Overview: After his girl leaves him for someone else, Herbert gets really depressed and starts searching for a job. He finally finds one in a big house which is inhabited by many, many women. Can he live in the same home with all these females?
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-06-21
Popularity:
Springtime in the Rockies
1942-11-06
Springtime in the Rockies
Overview: Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner, Victor Price, and Dan's career takes a nosedive. In hopes of rekindling their romance and getting Vicky back on the boards with him, Dan follows her to a ritzy resort in the Canadian Rockies, where she and Victor are about to open their new act. But things get complicated when Dan wakes after a bender to find that he's hired an outlandish Latin secretary, Rosita Murphy, which makes Vicky think he's just up to his old tricks again.
Genres: Music Romance Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-11-06
Popularity:
Hollywood Hotel
1938-01-15
Hollywood Hotel
Overview: After losing a coveted role in an upcoming film to another actress, screen queen Mona Marshall (Lola Lane) protests by refusing to appear at her current movie's premiere. Her agent discovers struggling actress Virginia Stanton (Rosemary Lane) -- an exact match for Mona -- and sends her to the premiere instead, with young musician Ronnie Bowers (Dick Powell). After various mishaps, including a case of mistaken identity, Ronnie and Virginia struggle to find success in Hollywood.
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-01-15
Popularity:
Showbiz Goes to War
1982-12-31
Showbiz Goes to War
Overview: While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the American public through bond sales, morale-boosting USO tours, patriotic war dramas and escapist film fare. Comedian David Steinberg plays host for this star-studded, 90-minute documentary, which looks at the way Tinseltown helped the United States' war effort.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1982-12-31
Popularity:
Carnegie Hall
1947-02-28
Carnegie Hall
Overview: A young Irishwoman comes to the United States to live and work with her mother as a cleaning lady at Carnegie Hall. She becomes attached to the place as the people she meets there gradually shape her life. The film also includes a variety of performances from some of the foremost musical artists of the times: conductors Bruno Walter & Leopold Stokowski, solists Arthur Rubinstein & Jascha Haifetz, singers Lily Pons & Jan Peerce and bandleader Vaughn Monroe among many others.
Genres: Music Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-02-28
Popularity:
Do You Love Me
1946-05-17
Do You Love Me
Overview: Katharine Hilliard, mousy dean of a stuffy music school, meets and is insulted by swing band leader Barry Clayton on a train. To "show" him she takes a friend's advice, removes her glasses, and puts on a designer gown. Naturally, she becomes gorgeous. Soon, both Barry and crooner Jimmy Hale are after her, and she finds herself in the midst of triangles and misunderstandings.
Genres: Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-05-17
Popularity:
If I'm Lucky
1946-09-02
If I'm Lucky
Overview: Out of work swing band maneuvers a gig working for a political campaign, by drawing in and entertaining prospective voters at rallies. The candidate is really a stooge for a corrupt political machine, which discovers the band's handsome and appealing singer would make a better stooge. Meanwhile, romance blossoms between the band's singers. When election day approaches, the band's singer wants out of the campaign, but the machine threatens to smear him and his pals in the band if he quits.
Genres: Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-09-02
Popularity:
Swing Fever
1943-11-01
Swing Fever
Overview: Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
Genres: Comedy Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-11-01
Popularity:
I'll Get By
1950-10-02
I'll Get By
Overview: I'll Get By is an updated remake of the 1940 20th Century-Fox musical Tin Pan Alley. William Lundigan and Dennis Day play William Spencer and Freddie Lee respectively, successful song publishers who make hits out of such numbers as "I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo", "Deep in the Heart of Texas", "You Make Me Feel So Young", "There Will Never Be Another You", and other favorites (the rights to all of these songs were conveniently held by 20th Century-Fox). The partnership has some hard times, especially during the feud between ASCAP and the radio networks, when only public-domain songs like "I Dream of Jeannie" were permitted to be broadcast.
Genres: Romance Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-10-02
Popularity:
The Shining Future
1944-04-11
The Shining Future
Overview: Documentary short film intended to drum up support for the Fifth War Loan Campaign. It shows a happy family in the future of 1960 enjoying the prosperity and advantages made possible by the successful prosecution of the war, and how the sacrifices of 1944 have made the world a better place.
Genres: Music Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1944-04-11
Popularity:
Two Girls and a Sailor
1944-06-14
Two Girls and a Sailor
Overview: A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him.
Genres: Music Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1944-06-14
Popularity:
Bathing Beauty
1944-06-27
Bathing Beauty
Overview: After breaking up with her fiancé, a gym teacher returns to work at a women's college, but a legal loophole allows him to enroll as one of her students.
Genres: Music Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1944-06-27
Popularity:
Outlaw Queen
1957-04-27
Outlaw Queen
Overview: Christina, the daughter of a Greek-immigrant family who does not share their belief that a woman's place is with her husband at the fireside, is a trick-shot artist. With her Uncle Jim, a strolling troubadour, and his sidekick Andy, a mandolin player, heads west to make her fortune.
Genres: Western Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-04-27
Popularity:
Best Foot Forward
1943-10-08
Best Foot Forward
Overview: Bud Hooper, a cadet at Winsocki Military Academy, sends an invitation to movie star Lucille Ball to come to Winsocki's big dance. Ball's publicity-hungry agent convinces her to go in order to boost her career. Complications arise when Bud's girlfriend Helen Schlesinger unexpectedly shows up, too.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-10-08
Popularity:
The Opposite Sex
1956-11-15
The Opposite Sex
Overview: Former radio singer Kay learns from her gossipy friends that her husband, Steve, has had an affair with chorus girl Crystal. Devastated, Kay tries to ignore the information, but when Crystal performs one of her musical numbers at a charity benefit, she breaks down and goes to Reno to file for divorce. However, when she hears that gold-digging Crystal is making Steve unhappy, Kay resolves to get her husband back. The Opposite Sex is a remake of the 1939 comedy The Women.
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-11-15
Popularity:
Private Buckaroo
1942-06-12
Private Buckaroo
Overview: The film tells the story of army recruits following basic training, with the Andrew Sisters attending USO dances. The film is a mixture of comedy and songs.
Genres: Comedy Music War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-06-12
Popularity:
Too Many Girls
1940-10-08
Too Many Girls
Overview: Mr. Casey's daughter, Connie, wants to go to Pottawatomie College and without her knowledge, he sends four football players as her bodyguards. The college is in financial trouble and her bodyguards use their salary to help the college. The football players join the college team, and the team becomes one of the best. One of the football players, Clint, falls in love with Connie, but when she discovers he is her bodyguard, she decides to go back East. The bodyguards follow her, leaving the team in the lurch.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-10-08
Popularity:
Syncopation
1942-05-22
Syncopation
Overview: A young trumpeter rises through the jazz world and finds love.
Genres: Music Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-05-22
Popularity:
On Our Merry Way
1948-02-03
On Our Merry Way
Overview: Oliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him?
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-02-03
Popularity:
The Sting II
1983-02-18
The Sting II
Overview: Hooker and Gondorf pull a con on Macalinski, an especially nasty mob boss with the help of Veronica, a new grifter. They convince this new victim that Hooker is a somewhat dull boxer who is tired of taking dives for Gondorf. There is a ringer. Lonigan, their victim from the first movie, is setting them up to take the fall.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1983-02-18
Popularity:
That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01
That's Entertainment! III
Overview: Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
Genres: Documentary Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1994-07-01
Popularity:
How to Marry a Millionaire
1953-10-29
How to Marry a Millionaire
Overview: Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-10-29
Popularity:
The All-Star Bond Rally
1945-05-10
The All-Star Bond Rally
Overview: Inspirational documentary short film featuring Hollywood stars promoting the sales of War Bonds through songs and skits. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-05-10
Popularity:
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16
That's Entertainment, Part II
Overview: Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
Genres: Documentary Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-05-16
Popularity:
This Is Bob Hope...
2017-12-29
This Is Bob Hope...
Overview: During his career, Bob Hope was the only performer to achieve top-rated success in every form of mass entertainment. American Masters explores the entertainer’s life through his personal archives and clips from his classic films.
Genres: Documentary Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2017-12-29
Popularity:
L'empreinte rouge
1937-03-19
L'empreinte rouge
Overview:
Genres: Crime Drama Mystery
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1937-03-19
Popularity:
Swing Fever
1943-11-01
Swing Fever
Overview: Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
Genres: Comedy Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-11-01
Popularity:
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
1979-12-13
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
Overview: Gala tribute to the Chairman of the Board.
Genres: Music Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-12-13
Popularity:
The Benny Goodman Story
1956-02-02
The Benny Goodman Story
Overview: Young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a music professor. He is advised to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny begins by joining the Ben Pollack traveling band.
Genres: Drama Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-02-02
Popularity:
Trumpet Serenade
1942-06-01
Trumpet Serenade
Overview: Harry James and His Orchestra and guests give us a example of their trumpet music.
Genres: Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-06-01
Popularity: